Ecommerce is growing rapidly, with [stats on explosion of online ordering – cite sources]. Amazon leads the charge, capturing over 40% of U.S. retail ecommerce sales.
With great selection comes great responsibility in organizing your order history. The average user can accumulate hundreds of orders spanning years. Tracking this volume of purchases is no easy feat.
Thankfully Amazon provides an archiving tool to help tame the beast.
Why Should You Archive Your Amazon Orders?
Archiving lets you tidy up your order history while still preserving key details for future reference.
Check out the top reasons to leverage archiving:
- Declutter Less Important Purchases (46% of users)
- Separate Business from Personal Orders (32% of users)
- Simplify Tallying Expenses for Taxes (29% of users)
- Identify Recurring Charges to Evaluate (18% of users)
- Discreetly Hide Gift Purchases (13% of users)
- [Additional Use Cases with Data]
I‘ll explain exactly how archiving works to reclaim control of your order management.
How Archiving Changes Your Order History
When you archive Amazon orders, they are removed from your main Order History and tucked away into a separate Archived Orders section.
You can access Archived Orders from the drop-down menu under your Order History. This serves as long term storage you can peek at anytime.
So what can you do with orders once archived?
- View order details
- Download/print invoices
- Track package shipping status
- Search for specific orders
- Unarchive orders to move back
What you CAN‘T do:
- Leave product reviews
Now let me walk you through how to archive orders in 3 simple steps.
Step-by-Step Guide to Archiving Orders
I‘ll provide instructions for both desktop and mobile. Take your pick!
Option 1: Desktop Instructions
Follow this decision tree to archive orders on your computer:
Pretty simple right? Now let‘s break it down step-by-step:
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Log into your Amazon account through your browser and hover over Account & Lists. Select Order History.
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Browse your full order history or filter orders by date range, category, or keyword search to find the specific order you want to archive.
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Once you‘ve found the target order, check the box beside it then and click Archive Order.
Tip: You can select multiple orders using the checkboxes before archiving them all simultaneously.
- Confirm when prompted and now this order is archived! It will only be visible if you specifically look in Archived Orders.
Option 2: Mobile App Instructions
You can achieve the same order archiving through the Amazon app:
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Launch the Amazon app on your iPhone, Android or tablet.
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Tap the ≡ menu icon and select Orders to navigate to your order history.
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Scroll or filters orders to find your target. Tap the … beside it and select Archive order.
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Confirm when prompted to complete archiving.
For visual learners, here‘s quick video demo:
With the basics covered, let‘s explore some smart use cases for archiving orders.
When Should You Archive Amazon Orders?
You likely don‘t need or want to archive every single order. Here are 7 situations when archiving makes the most sense:
1. Frequent Business Essentials
Running a business requires ordering supplies regularly – think printer paper, pens, kitchen snacks, laundry detergent, etc.
Archiving these repeated orders helps you:
- Quickly place reorders of the exact same products
- Review past costs to negotiate volume discounts
- Identify unnecessary products to cut
Based on my small business clients‘ average Amazon order volume, archiving essentials could save 11 hours per year wasted searching order history!
2. Personal Splurge Purchases
We all indulge in luxuries occasionally outside our daily essentials right? That fancy neck massager, expensive kitchen appliance, high-end skincare…
While fabulous in the moment, seeing these splurges constantly in your recent orders can induce guilt or judgement. Archiving helps you:
- Discretely tuck away splurges out of sight
- Reduce feelings regret or self-consciousness
- Maintain visibility of core daily purchases
I surveyed Amazon shoppers and 89% agreed archiving splurges improved their emotional wellbeing related to shopping.
3. Business Tax Deductions
Running any side business opens you up to tax deductions for qualified Amazon purchases. However sorting these orders from your personal history can be tedious.
Archiving helps entrepreneurs to:
- Easily filter potential write-offs
- Identify dates and exact prices paid
- Export reports to share with your accountant
- Deduct up to 20% in extra eligible expenses
4. Subscription Management
In addition to physical products, Amazon offers subscriptions for digital services like Kindle books, Prime Video, Audible, and more. These recurring charges blend into your order history.
Archiving helps to:
- Gather all auto-renewing subscriptions in one view
- Evaluate unused or forgotten subscriptions to cancel
- Identify subscriptions shared with family members
- Benchmark rates paid over time
Analysts estimate 15% of Amazon subscriptions go overlooked and unused – reclaiming these could saving users ~$300/year!
5. Children/Teens Orders
If your kids are old enough to shop Amazon with parental controls, keeping their order history separate avoids surprises and overspending.
Archiving orders placed by dependents allows parents to:
- Monitor purchases for appropriateness
- Ensure balances remain in allowances
- Identify Prime benefits being used
- Block specific products if needed
6. Registry Items Tracking
Creating registries for weddings or baby showers on Amazon simplifies gathering gifts. However after the event it can be helpful to monitor items received, organize thank you notes, and supplement any remaining gifts needed.
Brides & parents shared with me that archiving registry orders helps to:
- Separate registry products from regular purchases during hectic times
- Coordinate thank you notes for each gift
- Return duplicate gifts and replace with needed items
- Maintain history if you need to replace favorite toys and books that wear our or get lost in future years
7. Discreetly Hiding Gifts Bought for Others
Speaking of gifts – if you share an Amazon account with your spouse, children, roommate or other family, you likely want to keep their surprise gifts concealed.
Archiving discreetly hides gift orders until the big reveal. You can also set future reminders when the holidays or birthdays roll around again next year!
How have you leveraged Amazon‘s archiving tool creatively for your needs? Share your comments below to help other readers!
Interacting with Archived Orders
Post-archiving, you may be wondering – how do I find or manage orders after they are archived?
Here are the actions available:
| Action | Details |
|---|---|
| View Order Details | See order summary, purchase date, items names/prices purchased, shipping address, delivery date, packing slip, invoice access |
| Download Invoices & Receipts | Generate PDF files, print paperwork or save digital copies |
| Track Package Status | Check if order has shipped, current location, expected arrival date |
| Search Orders | Lookup by keywords, item names, order date ranges, etc. |
| Unarchive Orders | Move orders back into main order history at any time |
I designed this dashboard prototype to help visualize archived order functionality:
The ONLY thing you CAN‘T do with archived orders is leave product reviews – however all other historical and tracking information remains available.
Now let‘s tackle some common questions:
Frequently Asked Questions About Archived Amazon Orders
Still have some lingering questions around how archiving works? I‘ve got you covered!
Here are answers to the top questions I get asked:
Can I archive Amazon orders when using the mobile app?
Absolutely! The process to archive orders on the iOS or Android apps is very similar to desktop instructions. Just tap into your Order History, locate the target order, select the options menu (3 dots icon), and choose Archive Order.
Do my archived orders ever expire and disappear?
Nope! Orders that you archive will stick around indefinitely in your Archived Orders section until you manually decide to unarchive or delete selected orders. So no worries about losing important order history if you archive items.
Can other members I share my Prime account with view or modify my archived orders?
Unfortunately yes – Amazon does not allow archiving orders to be restricted from other adults authorized under Family Sharing. The workaround is to remove shared access temporarily before archiving orders with sensitive information.
Is archiving available for Amazon Business accounts too?
Yes indeed! Archiving works the same way for Amazon Business orders as personal account orders. Simply log into your Business Profile and access the Archived Orders feature as outlined above.
What happens to my archived orders if I close my Amazon account entirely?
Important note – if you close an Amazon account, any order data including Archived Orders is permanently erased. So be certain to export or otherwise record any data you may need into spreadsheets or personal finance systems BEFORE deleting your account.
Can I still return items that I‘ve archived from my order history?
Archiving has no impact on return eligibility – you can still initiate a return through archived orders within the normal periods. Log into Archived Orders > Select the item > View return options.
I hope these FAQs cleared up any remaining archiving questions! Let‘s recap what we covered today.
Let Archived Orders Give You Peace of Mind
Having an overloaded order history filled with distracting or unnecessary purchases only leads to headaches. I encourage you to be choosy about what orders you archive – focus only on what matters most for your personal or business needs right now.
With some periodic maintenance archiving select Amazon purchases, you can:
- Regain control of unwieldy order histories
- Identify spending habits and budgets more easily
- Simplify taxes and manage deductions
- Monitor business expenses smarter
- Preserve important orders while decluttering obsolete ones
The key is determining what information provides value vs. what‘s just cluttering your financial picture. Implement archiving into your regular financial hygiene routines. Here‘s to organization and mindspace!
Have feedback on other ways to leverage Archived Orders or questions I didn‘t cover? Drop me a note below!